Can anybody tell me how ventilation is supposed to happen when , for example , a heavy snowfall covers a typical ridge vent ??? My roofer insists that ridge vent is a better way to go and will result in a better looking roof. My soffits have been opened around the entire perimeter of the house so I have lots of air up there. But still , it doesn’t seem possible that any air could ventilate through a pile of snow. Am I worrying for nothing ???

I would not use ridgevent on anything low slope. You will notice that if there is some standing snow around exhaust vents in the winter that the snow will melt around the vent, in effect clearing it. Reason being that the air in your attice is always going to be warmer then the air outside of your house.

Templeman, I had the same question. While I was waiting for the snow to melt from the ridge vent, the warm attic air melted the snow on the rest of the roof from below and caused ice dams at the eave of my roof.

I added gable vents to my attic/roof and now the attic is much cooler even when the ridge vents are covered with snow.